Business booming at Montgomery County hotels due to power outages

No vacancies were to be had at Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014. Many of the 485 rooms had been booked by area residents displaced by power outages. Photo by Gary Puleo/Times Herald Staff.

UPPER MERION — If area residents who were without power may have felt like the losers in Wednesday’s icy winter weather games, the winners were the area’s hotels, where “no vacancy” seemed to be a recurring theme.

Then again, depending on where they chose to spend Wednesday night, some of those displaced “losers” may have felt as if their luck was about to change for the better.

“Where else would you want to be but at a casino on a night like tonight, right?” said Michael Bowman, CEO and president of Valley Forge Casino Resort.

With every one of the resort’s 485 rooms due to be snapped up within the hour, Bowman said the lobby was buzzing with folks who had closed up their dark and unheated homes in search of plush lodgings on First Avenue in King of Prussia.

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“It’s really unbelievable,” he said. “Our phones have been ringing off the hook. We have people just showing up without reservations trying to get rooms. I was just down at the front desk talking to guests, and it has a lot to do with the power outages. We’re doing the right thing by offering everyone in the lobby cookies and bottled water when they come in. We’re very sympathetic because a lot of these people haven’t had power for hours and you can just see they’re tired and they’re distraught.”

The folks responsible for getting the powerless residents back in their homes had also checked into the hotel earlier, Bowman allowed.

“PECO booked 90 rooms for the next few days, through Saturday, I believe,” said Bowman, who recalled a similar situation during Hurricane Sandy when the crew came to town for an extended stay. “We have a great relationship with them and they call us right away when they need to stay because they’re working in the area.

“We called in our whole team and all of our employees are in and managers are helping out. We’re anticipating all of our restaurants will be very busy.”

In addition to the Italian dishes whipped up by the chefs at Viviano, the steaks of high-end Pacific Prime, and the pub grub of Valley Tavern, hungry guests had a choice of Asian, American and Italian in the gourmet-style food court just off the casino floor.

To help get Thursday off to a better start than Wednesday, the Nosh Deli offered a full breakfast buffet, including made-to-order eggs and omelets.

“I have a feeling Nosh Deli will be very busy in the morning also,” Bowman said.

Over at nearby Hyatt House, sales coordinator Melissa Greenberg said the swank hotel’s 147 rooms had all been booked early in the day.

“A lot of people are extending their stays because they couldn’t get home due to the weather,” she said. “And we’re seeing a lot of local people checking in because their power is out.”

Across town at Normandy Farm Hotel in Blue Bell, where nearly 8,000 customers were without power, all 141 of Normandy Farm Hotel’s rooms were taken.